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Travis looks around the throne room, hands stuffed in his pockets. It's the winter solace, and not only is it freezing, but they were also several thousand feet in the air. Thankfully, the demigods could stay warm through winter jackets and Hestia's hearth.
His brother Connor was grinning widely as he looked around. Despite only being able to go once or twice a year, if they are lucky, they greatly enjoy seeing their father. Even if Hermes can't talk doing his godly duties.
Conner flaps with hands as he buzzes with excitement, Travis looking over their group of campers. He's sure Luke has it, but he is the second in charge; he should be paying attention.
Conner grins and whispers a plan for a prank in his ear, making Travis snicker mischievously.
"We'll start planning it when we get back," Travis tells his brother because no matter how much he wants to pull the prank off right now. Even he knows it's not a good idea to prank the gods or play a prank near a god.
That's just asking for trouble.
Travis glances back at the giant group; there's 20 good kids in their group, ten unclaimed, ten Hermes kids.
Usually, there's more, but, one, They can only take a set amount of kids each year, and two, in the off-season, the Hermes cabin is at least slightly less crowded. Even if they have to share a bed, at least Connor and Travis both get a bed. In the summers, they have to sleep on the floor to make room for the youngest campers, who could get easily trampled in the morning.
Travis mildly stops two eight-year-olds, both unclaimed, from shoving each other. Apparently, they both want a look at the gods to try and see if one of their parents will claim them here.
Travis doesn't have the heart to tell them that no one will even pay attention to any of the demigods.
Travis turns back to Connor as he starts to pat him on the bicep.
"What is it?" Travis whispers, already looking out for Chiron in order to flag down a problem.
"What is Luke doing?" Connor hastily blurts out, thankfully still whispering.
Travis follows the direction of Connor's pointing and spots Luke creeping up to Zeus.
Travis stiffens. Zeus is known for being very shock happy, so if Zeus sees a demigod getting closer and closer to his throne.... Well, let's just say none of them may make it out.
And now, to make it all worse, Luke is reaching into Zeus's bag and pulling something out.
This is very bad.
Travis may enjoy stealing things and getting away with stuff, but that doesn't mean he can't realize that stealing something from one of the most powerful gods, the one with some of the shortest temper, is a bad idea.
People may look at the Stoll Brothers and think that they can't be serious. And yet they can. They do it on their trips to Olympus, mostly not wanting to kill themselves and/or other people.
They know what pranks not to pull and stealing something from the God of thunder, Zeus? That's number fucking one.
Glancing at Connor, who is looking at Luke with a look of horror and awe. Gods, Travis is going to have to make sure his brother knows that that was very much not okay.
Travis looks at his other siblings and the other cabin groups and sees none of them have noticed it yet.
Fuck. That means from what they know, the only ones who are aware of this theft are Luke, Travis, and Connor. What should they do?
They don't want Luke killed. And even then, most people wouldn't even believe either of them. But when Zeus finds out.... it could get all of them killed.
Travis tugs his brother closer and hisses to him, "We will not speak a word of this until we get back; act natural."
Connor straightens up when he hears the seriousness of his older brother's voice. He looks over and meets Travis's eyes. A command clear. Do not give Luke away.
Thankfully, the two have a lot of practice with that.
Honestly, sometimes Travis forgets Luke is a son of Hermes, and then he goes out and does something so utterly crazy that it reminds Travis.
Because Luke committed that steal perfectly. The only reason the stolls were able to spot it was that the two were excellent prankers, and when you set as many pranks as you do, You've got to watch your back.
They stay focused on what the gods are saying, slipping into their natural act. Almost missing Luke stealing something else from Hades.
What the fuck Luke?!
Luke slips back to the back of the cabin group like he never left.
What did Luke steal?
Just what are you up to, Luke?
It's been nearly a month since they watched Luke steal something from Zeus. The entire time, they could see Zeus getting angrier and angrier as Poseidon loses patience. Whatever Luke stole, Zeus blamed Poseidon for it.
There are brief talks of War with the satyrs. The nature spirits pick up gossip quick, but Travis can only speak English, so satyrs it is!
That was until he eavesdroped on the gold pile of information.
Someone stole Zeus's master bolt.
Luke stole the master bolt?!
Luke stole a god's symbol of power?!
Why would he do that?!
Is he trying to start a war?!
CAUSE THATS HOW YOU START A WAR!
Gods, this is a mess.
What will Luke do?
Why did he do it?
What is he planning?
Is he trying to get another quest?
Travis thought he was done with those after he got his scar.
But Travis had to wait almost five months later to get any semblance of answers.
There are eight new kids at camp this year; two were claimed on the spot by Aphrodite and Apollo, respectively. One took about a week to be claimed, but everyone in the Hermes cabin knew they were an ares kid by then.
The other five? Unclaimed.
That leaves about 50 kids in the Hermes cabin.
Gods, it's stuffed full anymore, and the whole cabin may explode.
The new kids at camp aren't exciting to Travis.
'Gods aren't real!' That
And 'I can't be a demigod!' this.
Just the routine denial every demigod goes through.
But one kid. One kid is interesting.
He walked into camp after fighting the fricken minotaur.
He's clueless about anything Greek.
He has pretty much no talents at any one thing except for canoeing.
He fights the minotaur, and yet his only skill is canoeing?
And somehow, somehow, he can track Connors and Travis's movements to a T.
They haven't even been able to look at the horn he carries around!
But even better. The kid- apparently named Percy- was able to go toe to toe with Luke, the greatest swordsman in 300 years, and win. Sure, it may be just one small time, but he did it. And that's more than anyone in the arena can say right now.
Honestly, Connor, Travis, and Luke have been pretty busy keeping the cabin stable; they can't even play many pranks yet!
It should slow down near July, but they have to be good for now.
War continues to brew under the surface.
They continue to spend their summer. After all, no quest has been issued. So it's not their problem yet.
At least it wasn't until the capture the flag game.
Travis and Connor were pretty far away when it happened, Percy's claiming that is, so they heard from the gossip around camp.
The oath was broken for a second time.
They've seen what happens to those who are born of a broken oath. We have a tree at the top of a hill testimony to it.
Only bad things can come from Percy. So, the Hermes cabin started to avoid him. Luke still trains him, but they now can't be hurt by whatever force the Styx sends his way.
So it wasn't until the day of the quest that anyone in the Hermes cabin found out about the quest.
Percy, Grover, one of the satyrs, and Annabeth going to find Zeus's stolen master bolt.
Travis is reminded yet again of what his half-brother did, what he watched him do.
This has gone long enough.
He needs to talk to Luke.
Three lives are on the line, and they are younger than even Travis himself. All three are 12, Connor's age.
Besides, one of them is Annabeth. Everyone can see the little crush she has on him. And everyone can see how he looks at her like a brother would to his younger sister.
He wouldn't let Annabeth go on a quest to the underworld to retrieve something he had.
So why did he?
He has to talk to Luke.
Travis drags Connor over to a small patch, putting Connor in charge for a brief few minutes as he's going to go talk to Luke.
Connor agrees easily and heads back to the cabin, definitely planning a prank on Travis.
"Hey, Luke, can I talk to you for a second?" Travis says, hoping Luke can't hear the nervousness in his voice.
"Of course, Travis, what's up?" Luke easily responds, following Travis as he goes deeper into the forest.
Travis doesn't respond as he leads Luke deeper and deeper into the forest, his sword sheathed on his belt, occasionally bumping into his legs.
Eventually, once deemed far enough, Travis turns to Luke, back facing a tree.
Luke looks at him, confused, as Travis crosses his arms and leans back onto the tree, placing one foot on the tree. Travis narrows his eyes at Luke.
"Was this to get me away from the cabin so Connor can set up a prank?" Luke says, almost disappointed, as he rests both his hands on his hips.
"No, nothing like that." Travis shakes his head, and Luke, sensing how serious Travis is, grows concerned.
"Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Luke asks, stepping closer.
"I know you stole Zeus's lightning bolt, Luke." Luke freezes. He's a pretty good actor, Travis will admit, but he has spent most of his left here; he can read Luke's tells pretty well.
"What are you talking about? I would never!" Luke says, offended, and Travis rolls his eyes.
"Luke, I watched you steal not only Zeus's bolt but also something from Hades. So drop the lie," Travis deadpans, and Luke shrugs, no longer looking appalled.
"Look. I don't care what you are doing. I don't care who you are working with. I don't care why you are doing this." Travis says, letting his eyes close before stepping forward.
"But if any of this ends up hurting my brother." Travis pushes off the tree and walks toward Luke.
"You will be facing a punishment so bad you will be begging to go to tarturis instead." Travis glares, grabbing the collar of Luke's shirt and dragging him down to the fourteen-year-old's height.
"I'm not going to hurt Connor." Now Luke is actually appalled but straightens up as Travis lets him go.
"No, but provoking a war causes collateral, Luke." Luke blinks in confusion as Travis stepped forward, making Luke step back.
"But if the two of you come with me, you won't have to worry about collateral." Luke tries to convince, but Travis furrows his eyebrows.
"Go where?" Travis questions, and Luke's face shifts to menacing.
"Lord Kronos is rising. He's starting a war against our parents." Luke continues explaining all about Kronos's rise, how he's helping Kronos rise, and recruiting campers. All Travis feels is betrayal.
"You're going against the camp?" Travis asks in a voice close to a whisper.
"I'm going against the gods," Luke corrects, narrowing his eyes.
" yeah, and who do you think the gods will have fight against you?" Travis continues to question his anger, which is slowly rising.
"That won't have to be an issue if you come with me," Luke says, reaching out to Travis.
Travis smacks the hand away, his anger apparent. "And fight against our friends, our siblings; we have kids barely eight here, Luke. You are going to fight a fucking war against them?!"
Travis is in Luke's face now, and his face turns stone hard, eyes hardening as he looks at Travis in contempt.
"You can either be with us or against us," Luke says as Travis winces. Gods, Luke was the only one he could lean on while he was a kid. Back when he and Connor ran away from child protection services, trying to separate the two of them. Back when they didn't steal for fun but rather to survive. Back when all the two brothers had been each other, back when Travis was the grown-up taking care of a ten-year-old Connor at twelve years of age. Back when Travis and Connor stumbled their way to camp. When Luke was the new camp counselor, he cared for the kids like he was their full-blood older brother and not just a 15-year-old in charge of a bunch of kids.
Back when Luke was their brother, no matter what.
"Fuck you. What will people say when I tell them?" Travis says, his eyes burning with unshed tears.
"Ah, Travis. Who will believe you." Luke says, eyes glowing dangerously. "After all, you are just a liar. A prankster. No one will ever believe you."
Travis thinks for a few brief seconds before turning away from Luke.
"Fine, they won't, but that doesn't mean you and I will ever be brothers again," Travis growls as Luke smiles, content.
"Glad we came to an agreement," Luke says before turning away and walking out of the forest. Travis followed behind.
When they got back to the Hermes cabin, Connor was trying to convince some of the younger campers to help play a prank on Travis.
Sneaky little jerk.
Travis has never been so proud.
But when Connor looked up at Travis and saw his face, he questioned him about what was wrong. Quietly, of course, but Travis tells him he will tell him later.
He's not sure how he will be able to tell Connor the news.
They barely got any updates on the trio.
The Ares cabin volunteered to make Percy's shroud, Athena cabin made Annabeth's, obviously, and Grover didn't get one.
It's the day of the summer solace before they get any updates.
They watch Annabeth and Grover stumble into camp, dirty, hungry, and tired. But no Percy in sight.
Travis sighs as he watches the two come in. The oath of the big three gods has now killed at least one more innocent child.
At least that's what Travis thought before Annabeth and Grover told the camp that Percy was alive, just visiting his mother.
The celebration lasted days. It's like whatever bad luck came when Luke went on his quest went away.
Speaking of Luke, however.
Travis's side eyes Luke, who is sitting quietly, almost menacing. Before brightening up whenever Percy looked at him.
It wasn't until the last day of summer did Travis understood why.
Travis was in the Hermes cabin filling out his and Connor's paperwork as Connor was out talking with one of the aphrodite boys.
They both pushed it off to the last minute, but Travis graciously let Connor go and have fun with all his summer friends. You never know who may not be alive next summer.
Connor suddenly rushes in, panting heavily.
"Luke tried to kill Percy."
something tells Travis that last winter was just the beginning.